The cutting board

My head is throbbing again. I convince my little girl that I can watch a show on Netflix for a little while so I can fold some laundry. I STRONGLY dislike folding laundry...watching a show makes it bearable.  That’s kind of like resting…I think.  Not really. But I need to be productive somehow. And the laundry really needs to be folded.  The girls have 3 loads that need to be done.  There are two loads of towels and I don’t even know how many more.  It multiplies, I swear! Like Gremlins!!!

(They're harmless...right...)

So I fold. And watch. And fold some more. 

The boys come home from school.  Alex must really want something…like video game time…because he starts on his chores without being asked or reminded.  WOW!!  This RARELY happens! I mean, almost NEVER! He needs constant reminders to get most anything done at home.

Why is it that kids break EVERYTHING? I mean really.  Is it THAT hard to do simple tasks without causing things to be destroyed? Since we've moved here they've successfully broken a light, two toilet seats...yeah 2, the mini blinds in the bathroom, the sleds...and more. 

And then I hear the clattering of wood.  “What happened?” I ask.  No reply.  “What happened, Alex?” Again no reply. “Did something break?” I ask. He hesitantly replies, “Yes.”

“What was it?”

He walks to the edge of the living room holding a wooden cutting board that’s now it three pieces.  

“Alex! That’s not ours! That’s Aunt Juli’s!!”

“It is? Oh crap!”

“You’ll have to show it to Aunt Juli when she gets home.  You’ll also have to find out how much it cost so that you can work to earn money to replace it.” There's a sneaky suspicion in my head that Alex might just have been twirling that cutting board on his finger...just maybe...

I continue folding and watching. 

 Alex was stressing, unbeknownst to us.  He worried that Aunt Juli was going to be mad.  I mean really…she’s SO MEAN! NOT! He worried that he was going to be in trouble.  And I had forgotten ALL about it. Let’s be honest, my head hurt, so I didn’t care much. Woops!

When Aunt Juli came home and he showed her the cutting board she was very easy going about it, as she usually is. “It’s not a big deal.  Don’t worry about it,” she said.

Alex, feeling as though he had needlessly worried, got mad, “MOM! See!  SHE DIDN’T EVEN GET MAD! It wasn’t a big deal, Mom!”

“But next time it might be, so be careful that you don’t break things,” Juli replied. 

Oh, having kids is so fun! And on occasion...when the item they break is worth more...kids are expensive.